2018 Memphis Wine + Food Series Kicks Off With Brooks Uncorked

Food and wine lovers are invited to celebrate the amazing events of the 2018 Memphis Brooks Wine + Food Series – the premier, longest-running wine series in Memphis.

Photo by Michael Muller.

The series proudly continues the tradition of bringing together prominent vintners and award-winning chefs for a series of five fundraising events. All proceeds support the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art’s flagship arts education programs to the Mid-South community. The 2018 series is presented by First Tennessee Foundation / ArtsFirst and Lexus.

The series begins with an exclusive Meet the Winemaker dinner on Thursday, March 22. Guests at this sold-out event will enjoy a festive happy hour in Memphis’ hottest new restaurant by chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, The Gray Canary, and meet winemaker André Mack of Maison Noir Wines. Guests will then settle into seats in the restaurant’s private dining space for a family-style dinner and a tasting led by Mack, an award-winning sommelier and winemaker. He has been featured in major publications, such as Food and Wine, Wine & Spirits Magazine, The New York Times,Women’s Health, Ebony, and Wall Street Journal.

For the first time in the series’ 26-year history, the official kick-off party—Brooks Uncorked—includes an appearance by the featured winemaker. Mack will share several varieties of his wine during the party. In addition to Maison Noir Wines, Brooks Uncorked guests will be treated to tastes from some of the city’s hottest restaurants, signature cocktails, stocked Buster’s Bars, a silent auction, and live entertainment by Mark Stuart.

“The Brooks is proud to be hosting the series’ first African-American winemaker—André Mack—for this year’s Brooks Uncorked, while the museum focuses on the powerful and moving photography of Ernest C. Withers in honor of MLK50 and the exuberant, colorful fabric exhibited in African-Print Fashion Now! A Story of Taste, Globalization, and Style,” said Executive Director Emily Ballew Neff, Ph.D.

The third event of the series is the exclusive Luncheon with the Masters, happening Friday, May 18. Participants will join award-winning chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman in Downtown Memphis at Catherine & Mary’s for lunch at noon, paired with wines from Billy Weiss and North Berkeley Imports.

This year’s featured vintners for the Grand Artisans’ Dinner include representatives from Domaine Della, Devil Proof, Spire Collection, and Peay Vineyards. The 2018 award-winning chef team includes Andy Ticer, Michael Hudman, and Ryan Prewitt. This exclusive and intimate dinner will be held on the Terrace at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art on Friday, May 18. Wines from the featured winemakers will be showcased alongside a five-course dinner from our award-winning chefs.

The James Beard Foundation named Ticer & Hudman semi-finalists for the Best Chef: Southeast award for three consecutive years in 2012, 2013 and 2014. The chefs were nominated in 2015, 2016, 2017 and most recently in 2018. Prewitt is a James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: South in 2014 for his restaurant Pêche Seafood Grill in New Orleans.

The series’ culminating event, the Grand Auction, takes place Saturday, May 19 under the tent on the plaza of the Brooks Museum. Guests will settle into their seats for the evening live auction of 50 + lots, including rare and high-profile wines, exotic destinations, fine art, jewelry, tastings, and private dinners. Guests bid on these items while enjoying the wines and the company of our featured vintners and an abundance of food from Paradox Catering and Chef Jimmy Gentry. This is a high-energy live auction, with all proceeds going to the museum’s education programs.

Memphis Brooks Wine + Food Series is the museum’s premier fundraising endeavor. Dollars raised from this season of events makes the arts accessible to children and adults across the Mid-South. Over the past 26 years, the series has contributed approximately $5 million in net revenue to the Brooks, which directly supports the museum’s award-winning educational and community outreach programs. The museum is a privately funded, not-for-profit institution. With less than 12 percent of its budget provided by government funding, the Brooks relies on the generosity of individuals, foundations, and corporations for support to meet operating costs and other expenses.

Join us for one of the most-anticipated parties of the year, featuring winemaker André Mack, tastes from some of the city’s hottest restaurants, signature cocktails, a silent auction, and live entertainment.

Tickets prices are $100 per person before March 20, $125 thereafter.

· Friday, May 18 | 12 p.m.

Luncheon with the Masters at Catherine & Mary’s

Enjoy a lunch featuring food by chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman and wines from Billy Weiss and North Berkeley Imports.

Tickets are $300 per person.

· Friday, May 18 | 6:30 p.m.

Grand Artisans’ Dinner at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Enjoy this exclusive and intimate dinner, where wines from the featured winemakers will be showcased alongside a four-course dinner from our award-winning chef team.

Tickets are $750 per person, which includes admission to the Grand Auction.

· Saturday, May 19 | 5 p.m.

Grand Auction at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Raise your paddle and your glass to the event that only gets better with age.

Tickets are $150 per person or $2,500 for a reserved table for 12.

Founded in 1916 and located at 1934 Poplar Ave. in historic Overton Park, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art is home to Tennessee’s oldest and largest major collection of world art. More than 10,000 works make up the Brooks Museum’s permanent collection, including works from ancient Greece, Rome, and the Americas; Renaissance masterpieces from Italy; English portraiture; American painting and decorative arts; contemporary art; and a survey of African art. The Brooks Museum enriches the lives of our diverse community through the museum’s expanding collection, varied exhibitions, and dynamic programs that reflect the art of world cultures from antiquity to the present. For more information about the Brooks and all other exhibitions and programs, call 901.544.6200 or visitwww.brooksmuseum.org.